


devil's in the details

by putsch



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, College, M/M, Moving Tattoo(s), Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9335306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/putsch/pseuds/putsch
Summary: Oishi liked to think of himself as someone prepared, but some things in the world he could never really be ready for.(Written for SASO2016 BR5!)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nobetterpicture](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobetterpicture/gifts).



Oishi liked to think of himself as someone who is always prepared.  
  
Yet life has a way of smacking such expectations of oneself aside, especially when he winds up lost on small Tokyo back roads. He starts university next week, and he can't already be getting mixed up between his apartment and campus. He sighs, trying to get the map on his phone to work, but it's all out of wack, saying he's somewhere he knows he isn't. Stupid phone. He pockets the thing and looks around, taking in the small street. Most of the buildings look like houses, or apartment complexes, and he isn't sure if he can just knock on the door just like that. But there has to be a store, a cafe, something around here where it'd be easier, or maybe he could a second to sit and get off his feet.  
  
He's not thinking too deeply when he turns the corner of the street, but finds himself glad he did. There's a small building barely wider than it's front door and window with a clear 'Open!' sign.   
  
Perfect.  
  
The bell above the door jingles as Oishi steps inside, his nose filled with the scent of cleaning alcohol and something else he can't quite place.  
  
"Hello?" There's no one in the front, but the reception area is nice, maybe he can at least try to get his phone to work--  
  
"Welcome!!" A bright voice shouts through the silence of the room, and out pops a young man with bright red hair and the bluest eyes Oishi's ever seen. "Are you my 3 o'clock?"  
  
"Uh, no, I'm sorry." he starts, clearing his throat. "I just got lost, and I'm trying to find my way back to the station and I saw your store was open so I was wondering if you could give me some directions?"  
  
"You... just found it? Like that?" The man tilts his head, the energetic lightness in him gone, as if squashed because he can't quite understand the story.  
  
"Uh, yeah?" Oishi laughs, rubbing his neck, "I didn't mean to disturb you."  
  
"Huh..." and then the man is _right there_ , eyes staring into his with an intensity that makes Oishi's whole body tense. Oishi opens his mouth, about to say something, before the man steps back and gives him room to breath again. "Well whatever, I can give you the directions you want, but you might wanna stick around for a bit before you head out!"  
  
"What, why?"  
  
"It's gonna rain, silly! Can't you tell?"  
  
"That's ridiculous," Oishi shakes his head, looking out the small front window, "It's been sunny all day, and the weather report said there'd only be a 5% chance of it."  
  
"Just wait for it." The other says with a wide grin and flashing a peace sign. "By the way, you sure I can't interest you in lookin' at some designs?"  
  
"Um." Oishi fidgets, because really, he just wants to get home already. Tezuka is probably wondering if he got hit by a bus by now. "What kind of designs?"  
  
The man blinks, raising an eyebrow. "Tattoo designs, duh. Didn't you see the sign?"  
  
"Ta-- _what!?_ "  
  
And just like that, the lightening and thunder crack the sky open for rain.

  
  
  
The next thing Oishi knows, he's sitting at a small wooden table with a cup of tea, listening to the rain pattering against the windows. Kikumaru, he now knows, runs this little tattoo parlor that he inherited from his retired mother, and specializes in colorful tattoos of flowers and animals that are frankly, gorgeous.  
  
"If you want something more geometric, you wanna schedule with Momo, but if you're into the calligraphy look, you gotta go to Kaidoh."  
  
"I told you, I really don't want a tattoo."   
  
"Yeah, but I mean, if you change your miiiind~"  
  
"I doubt it."

  
  
  
  
The rains only last an hour, but to Oishi it might have only been minutes. Kikumaru is so easy to talk to, and even more fun to listen to, that Oishi doesn't even mind the fact he'll be running late to meet Tezuka. There's just a natural aura around Kikumaru that draws you into his little world.  
  
"Um, I guess I'll be going then." he says, and it feels awkward, it feels like not enough when Kikumaru's been so kind to let him stick around and to give him directions.  
  
"Let me give you my card first!" Kikumaru rifles behind the desk, until he pulls out a slightly bent, brown paper business card. "Here, so you can come back if you change your mind on that tattoo!"  
  
The cat perched on Kikumaru's shoulder meows in agreement as Oishi takes the card, examining it. There's nothing on it save the address, and it weighs more in his hand than he expected. "Thank you." he says, carefully tucking it away so it doesn't get more banged up.  
  
"No worries! Just don't get lost and end up anywhere weird again, alright~?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Oishi waves over his shoulder, and with that, heads out, the bell of the door jingling softly behind him. It was nice, to meet someone new in the city, Kikumaru seemed perfectly nice for a guy who runs a tattoo shop, and that cat was cute too.  
  
"Wait." Oishi stops in the middle of the road, brows furrowing. "Where the hell did that cat come from?"

  
  
  
Despite his best efforts, he can't stop thinking about it. At least school keeps him busy.  
  
Still, three weeks pass, and the next thing Oishi knows he's standing outside the small shop, taking a deep breath before walking inside.  
  
This time, the cat is on the front desk, perking up at the sight of him in the doorway. It's the same cat as before, the one that appeared out of no where on Kikumaru's shoulder.  
  
"Oishi!" Kikumaru's excited shout rings clear through the little space, bounding to his side and giving him a hard slap on the back. "I knew you'd be back, didyah decide what kind of tattoo would suit you best?"  
  
"No, I mean, I still don't think I'm gonna get one." Despite being so focused on the cat, with Kikumaru right there Oishi can't look anywhere else. "I was just nearby, so I thought I'd say hi?"  
  
Something inexplicable passes Kikumaru's face, reminding Oishi of the first time he said he just stumbled onto the place weeks ago, but it's pushed off his cheeks by his wide grin and soft dimples. "Aw, you're gonna make me blush Oishi!"  
  
"Hey come on..." Oishi's afraid he's honestly blushing because Kikumaru's good mood is so damn infectious. He tries to center himself by looking away to the cat, but when he looks, it's gone. "Um, also, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure!"  
  
"What's up with your cat? It seems to just, I dunno."  
  
"Disappear?"  
  
"Yeah!"   
  
Kikumaru's grin shifts, angling into something sly and far more mischievous that reaches into a glint in his eyes. Oishi swallows, unsure what that look means or if he likes it (or does he like it too much?).  
  
Kikumaru takes his shirt off.  
  
"WOAH, wooahhahAH, Hey!" Oishi is definitely blushing now, hands grabbing too late at the fabric because it's gone, there's no putting it back on Kikumaru's lithe frame.  
  
"Don't be a prude Oishi, this is the only way I can show you Mr. Whiskers!" Kikumaru turns his back to Oishi, pointing at a beautiful tattoo curled up on his shoulder blade, taking up the width of it - of the exact cat Oishi had seen twice before.  
  
"Why do you have a tattoo of your cat?" he blurts, because isn't that kind of thing weird? Actually, now that he looks, Kikumaru's entire back is covered in tattoos, mostly animals, some plants and vines, each one intricate and more interesting than anything in any of the books he's seen. But Kikumaru just laughs his question off.  
  
"Watch." He says, and Oishi isn't sure why, it's just Kikumaru flexing his back, and wow, he's toned, and oh double wow, the tattoo is moving all on it's own without regard to the shape of his musculature, the cat stretching over Kikumaru's skin before it blinks awake and shifts to his shoulder, and suddenly going from a tattoo to a full, real life animal.  
  
Mr. Whiskers meows.  
  
Oishi stares, mouth wide open.  
  
"It's magic Oishi, magic!" Kikumaru grins, scratching the cat's chin. "All the tattoos I do here are, they're great for people who are magic users like you to store stuff or control their magic, whatever the case may be!"  
  
"Wha, no, wait, wait wait wait." Oishi shakes his head, and he must be dreaming, he has to be. This isn't happening. "I don't have magic, magic isn't even real!"  
  
"Of course it is dummie." Kikumaru rolls his eyes like it's the most obvious thing in the world."This shop is only visible to people who can use magic, who can make use of what I do. Otherwise, it'd be way too much trouble, you know?"  
  
"I don't have magic." Oishi says more firmly, because he doesn't, he's never done anything magical in his life, he's good at tennis and good at studying, sure, but he's not as good as Tezuka or Fuji or anyone else he does.  
  
"Nah, trust me. You do."  
  


  
  
Unsurprisingly, the university student library contains very little on magic.   
  
The public library has more, but it feels like less since it's all fictional works aimed for teenagers.  
  
Oishi sighs, laying face down in his open book on the beliefs of magic in Papau New Guinea. This is going no where, clearly, Kikumaru must've been pulling his leg.  
  
But how does that explain the damn cat?  
  
"Are you still researching, Oishi?"  
  
He jumps, hitting his knees to the table at the sound of Tezuka's voice. "Uh, no, I'm done for now."  
  
"Mn." is the only response he gets, but oddly, Tezuka is peering at the book like he's interested. Oishi thinks he might die, how does he explain to one of his oldest friends what he's doing with stacks of books on magic? He must look like he's losing it, this isn't what someone in pre-med should be wasting their time on.  
  
"Try `Foundations of yourself`, by Sadaharu Inui."  
  
"Oh I hadn't heard of that one." Oishi grabs his pencil to write it down, "What's it about?"  
  
"Figuring out how to bring out and hone your magical ability."  
  
Oishi drops his pencil.  
  
Tezuka isn't the type to play pranks, or laugh at Oishi when he does something weird, or really do anything but be a good supportive person. He tends to err on too serious, or too blunt, so that if Oishi was freaking out over nothing Tezuka would tell him.  
  
"Are you serious, Tezuka?" Oishi asks, because he's pretty sure if what's happening right now is actually happening right now he... well, he doesn't know what he'll do. Something potentially extreme.  
  
Tezuka shrugs. "It helped me out, so I think it can help you too."  
  
 _"What?!"_

  
  
  
It turns out, Tezuka's been able to control the flow of the wind since he was 16.  
  
"That literally explains everything." Oishi says in an empty tennis court, staring down at the racket like it's personally offended him.  
  
"I try not to use it often. It felt like I was cheating instead of using my true abilities. But," Tezuka turns to Oishi, "I don't think your powers are like mine. Yours are probably more like, amplification, making other people stronger."  
  
"Seriously?" Oishi chuckles, feeling nervous and a little put off that somehow Tezuka knew about this part of himself before even he did.  
  
"Yes. I noticed it when we started playing doubles together our third year."  
  
"Because it made your powers stronger?"  
  
"Not just that. It made me better, just in general."  
  
Oishi laughs, brushing away an old feeling that's been in the back of his heart for way too long. "Still, compared to wind it seems sort of lame."  
  
"No. I think it's perfect for you." Tezuka says, with a soft smile on his lips.  
  


  
  
It takes a week to get the book, but when he does, he can't put it down.  
  


  
  
 _Power Augmentation_ : This ability allows for the user to improve the abilities of others, sometimes unconsciously. It can appear at any age, but in most cases it appears young, particularly if the user is active in physical activities or intense creative ones. It is one of the hardest powers to notice, because the user often does not know they have it until they are with another.  
  
Training is also difficult, due to the differences in use between physical, magical, and mental augmentation. As this ability is rare (or rarely noticed, it is still uncertain), it's hard to find more than one subject to help the training along.

  
  
  
This time, when he steps through Kikumaru's door, he feels as prepared as he wants to be. He knows he can't be ready for everything, not when there's still so much to learn, but at least now, he knows the shape of the barrel he's staring down.  
  
"You're back!"   
  
"Yeah, I am." Oishi rubs the back of his neck, "So, uh, I wanted to say sorry, first of all."  
  
Kikumaru blinks. "Why?"  
  
"Because you were right, and I doubted you." Oishi starts, swallowing. "I do have magical powers, I just, never knew."  
  
The way Kikumaru smiles lightens up the whole room.  
  
"I knew it! Your power might not be as cool as my tattoos, but I bet it's still something neat! So what is it huh, it's something mental isn't it, like making stuff move by staring at it?"  
  
"No, it's not that, it's called power augmentation."  
  
"Augmehwha?" Kikumaru scrunches his nose, "Eh, whatever! But that's great! You figured it out, I'm proud of you!"  
  
"Thanks", and Oishi means it.  
  
"So then, how about a tattoo to commemorate your new found powers?" Kikumaru wraps his arm around his shoulders, waggling his eyebrows, and Oishi thinks he can get used to that.  
  
"I was thinking maybe, if you were free, we could get coffee?" He feels sheepish, but he's never asked another guy out on a date before, "And you can tell me more about the magic part of this, or just, magic in general."  
  
Kikumaru's mouth falls open in a perfect 'o' shape. "Sure! Let me grab my wallet and then I'll show you my fave place!"  
  
Oishi slumps in relief as Kikumaru runs off, but stops before he makes it to the hall, turning back at Oishi with that sly, sly smile, made even worse by the Mr. Whisker's head popping out from his shirt collar.  
  
"And by the way, if this is a date, you should call me Eiji." He winks, and rushes out of view, leaving only the cat behind.  
  
Oishi stands there, bright red and dumbstruck, and he's pretty damn sure the Mr. Whiskers is laughing at him.  
  
One of these days, he tells himself, he'll be prepared when it comes to Eiji.

**Author's Note:**

> And then they lived happily ever after and Eiji convinced Ooishi to get a ton of tattoos, and maybe to have a threesome with Tezuka.


End file.
